Federer's Four Slam Margin

Before the US Open, I thought that if Nadal wins this tournament, then he will go on to break Federer's record. I definitely believe that now. By the end of 2016, Nadal will be the greatest of all time. And I'm not a Nadal fan. I was rooting for Djokovic, Murray before he lost but Nadal is just to good.

Federer's record is safe. This is Nadal's swan song. He is done winning slams. Novak and Murray have the game to stop him. This is clear after yesterday when Novak did't lose to Nadal, but beat himself.

Federer's record is safe. This is Nadal's swan song. He is done winning slams. Novak and Murray have the game to stop him. This is clear after yesterday when Novak did't lose to Nadal, but beat himself.

Federer's record is safe. This is Nadal's swan song. He is done winning slams. Novak and Murray have the game to stop him. This is clear after yesterday when Novak did't lose to Nadal, but beat himself.

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Gosh you must be desperate. I can imagine you walking around in your room with the same expression on your face as your avatar's, repeating the quote above to yourself over and over again. At night , murmeling it constantly in your sleep and when you wake up, squizing yourself because you want to get out of your nightmare. Too bad, reality is hard world to live in.

Could you imagine if Wawrinka beat Novak in the SF and then Nadal takes care of Stan in 3-4 sets in the final? Sure I'd still be happy that Nadal won the USO but nowhere near as satisfying as seeing him turn the tables on one of his main rivals, his biggest challenger and on his opponent's best surface.

Here is a indisputable FACT:

Nadal def grass great at WIM in Fed
Nadal def HC greats at AO and USO in Fed and Novak

Have those two guys def Nadal at RG? NO!

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now he needs to beat djokovic at the AO to set things right. then he would defeat djoker the best hardcourt player at both hardcourt slams while not getting defeated at RG.

While a 4 slam margins seems thin right now, because Nadal is winning everything or almost, I don't think this will last forever. Everyone is talking about 4 slams as if it were a walk in a park, but it's clearly not. It's like in 2011, Djokovic was winning everything left and right and it seemed he was bound to surpass Nadal in total slam count in a few years, fast forward 2 years later, Djokovic is still at the top of the game, but he's nowhere near as dominant as he once was. As Nadal said himself before, players have hot streak, but players can't keep this insane level forever, and that will happen to him too.
Nadal has got a lot of mileage and will eventually be beaten at the French Open just like Federer was beaten at Wimbledon/US Open.

After yesterday, I don't think the record will hold. While Nadal's dominance on clay may start declining, it's at such a high level that I can see him continuing to win at Roland Garros for many more years. He may not win every single one, but I think he can win it even when he reaches mid 30's.

Federer is done winning slams. Nadal can reach 17 but I dont see 3 more French Open's in his future. I suppose only time will tell if Nadal has found some sort of "extra" youth that will allow him to make 17 or more slams beyond the next 2 years.

Doesn't matter to me. That was never the metric until Federer came into the picture anyway (and for Federer fans it wasn't the metric until Federer himself had that record). Nadal's 13 are the most impressive wins I've seen. He beats Djokovic for yet another major this year (he beat him in the semis of the FO as well).

Nadal is winning his titles against the top tier competition. Federer racked up too many majors against guys like Roddick, Baghdatis and Hewitt. Nadal is taking his majors from Federer and Djokovic for the most part.

Nadal is the best player I have yet to see, in terms of the total package. I am totally satisfied with where Nadal is, even if he never won another major.

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LOL, wut ? nadal's win over djoker at RG 13 was impressive because djokovic played good tennis and fought really well, but the one at the USO ? roddick in the USO 2007 QF for instance was much better. Roddick at USO 2006 was better (though not by a big margin ).....hewitt in USO 2005 was clearly better.

djoker played utterly mediocre in sets 1 and 4 and let the 3rd one slip away.

Again , somewhat similar thing for djoker's performance at wimbledon final this year. He played utterly mediocre. Roddick/Hewitt in their prime would've easily won vs him as well ....

That sort of play is so not top-tier competition.

you need to see how the players played as well, not just the names when considering competition ....

I have no doubt that Rafa will eventually exceed Federer's 17 grand slam count. Also, when you take into account Rafa's four Davis cup titles and his Olympic medal (something Federer lacks) his career achievement is already very close to Rogers, if not better (more versatile).

How confident is the Federer camp that their man's 4-slam margin over Nadal will hold?

It's different now that Federer is quickly moving out of slam contention, ever more feeling the twilight of his career, and Nadal is edging higher in contention for future slams, and with today's US Open win is only 4 behind Federer.

Two months ago, the talk of the town was that Murray was gaining the edge in dominance with his recent wins. Now all of that has faded...

Who would have guessed that the man to take the spotlight away from Murray was not to be Djokovic, but Nadal, who only one slam ago lost in the first round, and only two years ago was mired in a losing battle against Djokovic at the slam finals?

Now, Federer has one less reason to feel at peace as he moves closer to retirement, and one more reason to feel anxious...

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I am not in "Federer camp" but I am confident it will hold. Nadal is winning 0-1 slams in 2014 - he was never able to have two consecutive multislam seasons and he will not start that at 28. After that it will be too late for him to catch up. So at the best Nadal will finish with 15 slams - i.e. give him one possible swan song slam after 2014, but that is it. Which is a great achievement indeed, but he is no GOAT.

I am not in "Federer camp" but I am confident it will hold. Nadal is winning 0-1 slams in 2014 - he was never able to have two consecutive multislam seasons and he will not start that at 28. After that it will be too late for him to catch up. So at the best Nadal will finish with 15 slams - i.e. give him one possible swan song slam after 2014, but that is it. Which is a great achievement indeed, but he is no GOAT.

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Agreed. But I see two main scenarios.

1. Nadal will continue current momentum taking RG and 1-2 other GS titles in 2014. This will end up finishing him physically and forcing another 6+ months break where at closer to 30 with cumulating knee issues he won't be able to return to GS champion level regardless of surface.

2. He'll lose his current momentum as the pattern has been, but will continue to be a major force on clay for a few years yielding 1-2 more RG's until eventual decline. Not that I believe Nadal to "decline", but rather "fail" physically.

Nadal @ <100% physical performance is a punching bag for the top 100. He can probably perform at 100% with clearly less than 100% health with proper meds, but there's no compensating with tennis skills when that physical performance dips permanently below 100%. It won't be pretty and we've already seen first glimpses into it.

Funny how everyone is oh so freaking sure that Nadal will win the RG title for the upcoming 3-4 years while he was as good as beaten by Djokovic this year and would probably have been beaten by him in 2011 if Federer didn't beat Djokovic there.

Look, there certainly is a chance that Nadal will win 17 grand slams but it doesn't have to happen if the other players (Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, Del Potro, even Federer, and the young guys) stop messing around and start playing at their full potential. Djokovic has no business losing to Nadal multiple times in a row, Murray on a good day shouldn't be having too much trouble with Nadal either. Federer was beating Nadal on hard courts and taking sets off of him on clay just 1-2 years ago.

If everyone just stopped folding in every match because they're scared of the loudly grunting baboon on the other side of the court he won't win too many slams

Funny how everyone is oh so freaking sure that Nadal will win the RG title for the upcoming 3-4 years while he was as good as beaten by Djokovic this year and would probably have been beaten by him in 2011 if Federer didn't beat Djokovic there.

Look, there certainly is a chance that Nadal will win 17 grand slams but it doesn't have to happen if the other players (Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, Del Potro, even Federer, and the young guys) stop messing around and start playing at their full potential. Djokovic has no business losing to Nadal multiple times in a row, Murray on a good day shouldn't be having too much trouble with Nadal either. Federer was beating Nadal on hard courts and taking sets off of him on clay just 1-2 years ago.

If everyone just stopped folding in every match because they're scared of the loudly grunting baboon on the other side of the court he won't win too many slams

Funny how everyone is oh so freaking sure that Nadal will win the RG title for the upcoming 3-4 years while he was as good as beaten by Djokovic this year and would probably have been beaten by him in 2011 if Federer didn't beat Djokovic there.

Look, there certainly is a chance that Nadal will win 17 grand slams but it doesn't have to happen if the other players (Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, Del Potro, even Federer, and the young guys) stop messing around and start playing at their full potential. Djokovic has no business losing to Nadal multiple times in a row,Murray on a good day shouldn't be having too much trouble with Nadal either. Federer was beating Nadal on hard courts and taking sets off of him on clay just 1-2 years ago.

If everyone just stopped folding in every match because they're scared of the loudly grunting baboon on the other side of the court he won't win too many slams

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Wrong. Nadal controlled that entire match, and if not for his decline, would have won it in straights. The only reason Cvac was even in that match is because Nadal took his foot off the gas. I think you need to stop recreating history.

Why not? Federer is supposed to be GOAT yet he has lost multiple times in a row to Nadal many times over his career.

I'm sure Andy would find that comment hysterical considering he has struggled with Nadal more times than not and on all surfaces.

Keeping it Klassy as always, Fed fanatics. I think you belong on that Fed worshiping site Ruan's Fed blog. Your bs comments will be more appreciated there in the little Fed obsessed bubble they have created for themselves. As a matter of fact, I bet you already post there anyway. Be gone, hater.

Wrong. Nadal controlled that entire match, and if not for his decline, would have won it in straights. The only reason Cvac was even in that match is because Nadal took his foot off the gas. I think you need to stop recreating history.

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Seriously... is this your level of understanding the sport and especially the psychology of it? Do you really think ANYONE in a GS final thinks "Gee, I already got this in the bag. I better ease up so I won't be too tired when I enter that non-major in two weeks time!"

Or could it be that it's virtually impossible to maintain that momentum when playing a worthy opponent? Just like in all sports: You do something that works and move ahead in the match. Then you're the one that has something to lose and the opponent changes his game a little to make it more effective and regains momentum with more relaxed and aggressive play. And the cycle continues. Or ends. But in a competitive match it's always there at least once to some extent.

I am not in "Federer camp" but I am confident it will hold. Nadal is winning 0-1 slams in 2014 - he was never able to have two consecutive multislam seasons and he will not start that at 28. After that it will be too late for him to catch up. So at the best Nadal will finish with 15 slams - i.e. give him one possible swan song slam after 2014, but that is it. Which is a great achievement indeed, but he is no GOAT.

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As long as Nadal is ahead of djerkovic in slam tally, it's all good. Nadal has more than double the amount of djerkovic slams, so everything is great. Fed is a worthy GOAT. Fed can be GOAT for all eternity, it's okey for some of us Nadal fans. bye!

If everyone just stopped folding in every match because they're scared of the loudly grunting baboon on the other side of the court he won't win too many slams

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I feel you man. :lol:
I used to feel about Humbalito in that exact same way. But he's slowly growing on me. :shock: He still kinda irritates me with some of his mannerisms but he's really not as bad as I once thought. I will never be a fan of his brand of tennis but off court he does seem like a decent bloke.

Wrong. Nadal controlled that entire match, and if not for his decline, would have won it in straights. The only reason Cvac was even in that match is because Nadal took his foot off the gas. I think you need to stop recreating history.

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Just like at the FO 2008 when Nadal had a double break in the third and started to relax and rolAIDS took it to the breaker lol. Nadal got tired after the thrashing he gave in the 1st and 2nd sets, little did he know rolAIDS had more in the tank than he had, and was only acting tired at the end of the second set lol :shock:

I feel you man. :lol:
I used to feel about Humbalito in that exact same way. But he's slowly growing on me. :shock: He still kinda irritates me with some of his mannerisms but he's really not as bad as I once thought. I will never be a fan of his brand of tennis but off court he does seem like a decent bloke.

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I also have eased up on him and am starting to like him off court a lot, and even a little on court. Although I'll never get used to that forehand swing.. But I don't know, I wonder if it doesn't really affect his opponents. Imagine playing a 5 hour match against a muscular gorilla-resembling being, who's making loud animalistic grunting noises EVERY shot and is often glaring at you in an intimidating way. While not showing any signs of fatigue or letting up from the start until the end of the match. On the one hand you'd think pro's know how to deal with it but it might just get to them a tiny bit which causes them to lose the "mental battle".

Funny how everyone is oh so freaking sure that Nadal will win the RG title for the upcoming 3-4 years while he was as good as beaten by Djokovic this year and would probably have been beaten by him in 2011 if Federer didn't beat Djokovic there.

Look, there certainly is a chance that Nadal will win 17 grand slams but it doesn't have to happen if the other players (Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, Del Potro, even Federer, and the young guys) stop messing around and start playing at their full potential. Djokovic has no business losing to Nadal multiple times in a row, Murray on a good day shouldn't be having too much trouble with Nadal either. Federer was beating Nadal on hard courts and taking sets off of him on clay just 1-2 years ago.

If everyone just stopped folding in every match because they're scared of the loudly grunting baboon on the other side of the court he won't win too many slams

I am not in "Federer camp" but I am confident it will hold. Nadal is winning 0-1 slams in 2014 - he was never able to have two consecutive multislam seasons and he will not start that at 28. After that it will be too late for him to catch up. So at the best Nadal will finish with 15 slams - i.e. give him one possible swan song slam after 2014, but that is it. Which is a great achievement indeed, but he is no GOAT.

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He won't be 28 until the second week on the FO! He may very well win no slams, but he may very well have a good year winning 1-2! I think Rafa will play through 2016, if his body is able. He'll want to win clay gold!

lololol. As for the USO final, please people stop saying that Nadal was "in control". Djokovic did not play that great, and was clearly dictating play whenever he was on. Nadal is great at outlasting people, but the idea that he blows the top guys off the court is a little far.

Nadal will probably catch it. He is too strong mentally and physically to fade into oblivion.

He won't be 28 until the second week on the FO! He may very well win no slams, but he may very well have a good year winning 1-2! I think Rafa will play through 2016, if his body is able. He'll want to win clay gold!

lololol. As for the USO final, please people stop saying that Nadal was "in control". Djokovic did not play that great, and was clearly dictating play whenever he was on. Nadal is great at outlasting people, but the idea that he blows the top guys off the court is a little far.

Nadal will probably catch it. He is too strong mentally and physically to fade into oblivion.

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All the top guys dictate when they're 'on'. He who is 'on' longer wins the match.